2.5.24
With Gaza, understandably, dominating the news, as Israel’s genocide continues, and peaceful pro-Palestinian protestors at campuses across the US are being violently assaulted by police on behalf of their universities’ administrators, it’s a tribute to the tenacity of human rights campaigners at five locations across the US — and in London and Brussels — that, on Wednesday, they came out onto the streets to also try to remind people of the ongoing existence of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, and, in particular, the plight of the 16 men (out of 30 still held in total), who have long been approved for release but are still held.
Coordinated monthly vigils for the closure of Guantánamo have been taking place across the US and around the world on the first Wednesday of every month since I began organizing them last February, and on Wednesday, May 1, vigils took place in Washington, D.C., New York, London, Brussels, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit and Los Angeles.
San Francisco didn’t hold a vigil this month, but coordinator Gavrilah Wells took photos at two events at the weekend, and campaigners in Mexico City were also unable to take part, although Natalia Rivera Scott arranged instead for two former prisoners to take photos with posters calling for the prison’s closure.
Another vigil on Wednesday took place without being physically recorded, as Jon Krampner held a solitary vigil during the lunch break outside the Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building. As he explained, “I went today in my traditional orange jumpsuit and black hood, brandishing my customary Amnesty International ‘Close Guantánamo’ sign. In the spirit of variety being the spice of life, though, I attached a sign to the AI sign announcing the premiere of the film ‘I Am Gitmo’ this weekend in Santa Monica. Because it was May Day, there was a fence in front of the Federal Building — apparently they were expecting a rowdy passel of protesters. I went and stood inside the fence — it’s shadier there. But a uniformed policeman — he wasn’t LAPD, must have been some sort of federal constabulary —smilingly asked me to stand outside of the fence. I engaged in a little discourse with him about the First Amendment. He smilingly said I could express my First Amendment rights outside of the fence. I could have made a federal case of it, so to speak, but I wasn’t sure how long he would continue to be the same smiling officer, so I went and stood outside the fence. Not one but two people took pictures of me. I gave them both my e-mail address, but when I got home, the promised e-mail with photo hadn’t arrived from either one. This is not the first time this has happened.”
Below are more photos from the vigils, and I hope you’ll be able to join us next month, when the vigils take place on Wednesday June 5. If there isn’t a vigil anywhere near you, please feel free to start your own, but do let me know if you do so, and don’t forget to send a photo.
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Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer (of an ongoing photo-journalism project, ‘The State of London’), film-maker and singer-songwriter (the lead singer and main songwriter for the London-based band The Four Fathers, whose music is available via Bandcamp). He is the co-founder of the Close Guantánamo campaign (see the ongoing photo campaign here) and the successful We Stand With Shaker campaign of 2014-15, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here, or you can watch it online here, via the production company Spectacle, for £2.50).
In 2017, Andy became very involved in housing issues. He is the narrator of the documentary film, ‘Concrete Soldiers UK’, about the destruction of council estates, and the inspiring resistance of residents, he wrote a song ‘Grenfell’, in the aftermath of the entirely preventable fire in June 2017 that killed over 70 people, and, in 2018, he was part of the occupation of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, to try to prevent its destruction — and that of 16 structurally sound council flats next door — by Lewisham Council and Peabody.
Since 2019, Andy has become increasingly involved in environmental activism, recognizing that climate change poses an unprecedented threat to life on earth, and that the window for change — requiring a severe reduction in the emission of all greenhouse gases, and the dismantling of our suicidal global capitalist system — is rapidly shrinking, as tipping points are reached that are occurring much quicker than even pessimistic climate scientists expected. You can read his articles about the climate crisis here.
To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the six-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, The Complete Guantánamo Files, the definitive Guantánamo habeas list, the full military commissions list, and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.
Please also consider joining the Close Guantánamo campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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8 Responses
Andy Worthington says...
When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:
Photos from, and my report about the eight vigils for the closure of Guantanamo that took place across the US and around the world yesterday, May 1, 2024 – in Washington, D.C., New York, London, Brussels, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit and Los Angeles. Vigils didn’t take place in San Francisco or Mexico City on Wednesday, but Gavrilah, in San Francisco, took photos at events at the weekend, and Natalia, in Mexico City, got two former prisoners involved in a photo project.
The vigils were the latest in an ongoing series of monthly coordinated global vigils that began last February. They take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and the next date is June 5, when you’re welcome to join us, or to set up your own vigil if there isn’t one near you!
...on May 2nd, 2024 at 9:53 pm
Andy Worthington says...
Natalia Rivera Scott wrote:
Thank you, Andy 🧡
It’s always an honor to be part of this family.
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:51 am
Andy Worthington says...
Likewise, Natalia. I missed seeing you and Alli and your friends in these photos, but I was delighted by your initiative involving Abdellatif and Ahmed!
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:51 am
Andy Worthington says...
Barbara Bendzunas wrote:
How do we justify having this vile place still existing?
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:52 am
Andy Worthington says...
A very good question, Barbara. Sadly, Joe Biden and Antony Blinken don’t care about the men languishing at Guantanamo. All they seem to care about is arming a genocide and presiding over the violent suppression of First Amendment rights on US campuses.
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:52 am
Andy Worthington says...
Mexico4Julian wrote:
All over the world we demand the closure of Guantanamo!
We are a big family of activists whose hearts are in this cause for justice, liberty and the lives of human beings who are illegally detained without charges or trial in the torture camp.
#CloseGuantánamo 🧡
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:53 am
Andy Worthington says...
Thanks, Mexico4Julian, for sharing, and for your fine words about why we do what we do!
...on May 3rd, 2024 at 9:54 am
Andy Worthington says...
For a Spanish version, on the World Can’t Wait’s Spanish website, see ‘Fotos y Reportaje: Ocho vigilias mundiales por el cierre de Guantánamo el 1 de mayo de 2024’: http://worldcantwait-la.com/worthington-fotos-y-reportaje-8-vigilias-mundiales-por-cierre-de-gtmo-1-5-24.htm
...on July 9th, 2024 at 1:37 pm